The Rents
Yeh, we have heard about it. Looking at your posts (Grand total of 2 and first registered Feb 2011) you seem to know more than any cadet should know. You even know more than pilots already here know. I would guess you are probably management trying to talk up the Icad scheme.
All I would ask though is it in your contract? If it isn’t, then it isn’t legally binding. Ask the instructors in Adelaide what they were promised by the company when they were due to come to Hong Kong after completing two years instructing in Adelaide. They were promised full expat packages including housing etc only to have the company renege on that promise. Unless it is in your contract it isn’t worth anything.
If the rumour is true though and the company honours it, it will be a cash allowance and not a Housing Allowance. Would you like me to explain the difference and the tax implications of receiving a cash allowance? How about the implications of it not being indexed to the Hong Kong Government rental index, especially considering that Hong Kong is experiencing high inflation at the moment caused by the peg of the Hong Kong Dollar to the US Dollar, low interest rates and the influx of hot money into emerging markets like Hong Kong and China from the US’s QE2 policies.
The reality is that if most of you num nuts had never applied to the Icad scheme in the first place the company would have been forced to offer full expat terms.
The mere fact there is a rumour that the company may offer some cash allowance is an indication that CX aren’t getting the numbers of suitable applicants they need. They have effectively shown their hand and admitted that the current package is insufficient. The reality though is that even the new package, if true, is grossly insufficient as well.
Caveat Emptor.